The head of Detroit’s large global auto show states it will go back to the Motor City next year, however, with smaller indoor screens, and more emphasis on experiencing vehicles and technology out.
The North American International Auto Show has been canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and will be replaced this season by an event at a racetrack north of Detroit.
But Rod Alberts, executive director of the Detroit Automobile Dealers Association, which runs the show, states that next year there’ll be an event in the town’s downtown.
However he said the show might need to shift from the past, when automakers constructed elaborate and costly multi-story displays and unveiled their main new versions. Now car companies are finding they are able to get good exposure and spend less by performing virtual unveilings out of auto displays, where vehicles can get overshadowed by other debuts. Some automakers had pulled out of Detroit and other shows.
Alberts said Detroit along with other shows have to change to appeal more to millennials, which can be two generations following baby boomers and like to experience matters rather than simply view them.
He envisions a mostly a walkable outdoor event encompassing the whole downtown, with smaller screens and maybe some electric-vehicle driving indoors. It’d be during good-weather weeks instead of the classic frigid January in Detroit.
“You can’t just continue doing the same things over and over again,” Alberts said.
The series was scheduled at the downtown convention center for September of the year, but in January organizers decided to replace it with an outdoor event known as”Motor Bella” at the M1 Concourse track in Pontiac, Michigan.
Alberts stated Motor Bella could be integrated into a future downtown automobile show, or could be a separate event in the future. It will have monitor driving, an off-road driving place, and displays by automakers and technology companies. He said there’ll be new vehicle debuts in the event from Sept. 21-26, but he was not certain how many.
Last month, the Chicago Auto Show announced it would be back downtown in July. The New York International Auto Show is scheduled to make a comeback from Aug. 20-29 in the Javits Convention Center, although the Los Angeles Auto Show is to return from Nov. 19-28 at the town’s convention center.